2. As we’ve said before, Contra Costa’s district attorney must resign because his own campaign finance abuses leave him with no credibility to prosecute others.

3. East Contra Costans should boot out Belle in the 2018 election if he doesn’t first relinquish his seat.

Contra Costa Board of Education Trustee Jeffery Belle (CCTV)

Belle had faced a misdemeanor charge for lying to voters in his ballot statement, claiming he had a bachelor’s degree when he didn’t. The deceit undoubtedly helped him squeak out just over 50 percent of the vote in his 2014 campaign.

Unfortunately, state law punishes material lies in ballot statements with only a misdemeanor fine of no more than $1,000. State lawmakers don’t put a high premium on election-season truth.

Rather than conduct a trial for such a small punishment, county prosecutors let Belle off with 20 hours’ community service as part of a diversion program. Not even a misdemeanor. And he can keep his ill-gotten seat on the education board, where he has been an embarrassment.

Perhaps that would have been appropriate, if this were his first transgression. However, as reporter Matthias Gafni uncovered, Belle has a history of claiming credentials he doesn’t have, including a bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree from Oklahoma City University.

He has also touted a doctoral degree from Harrington University in London, which is a diploma mill where students can get a degree based on “life experience.”

There’s more: He illegally practiced respiratory care without a license in California, for which he was cited and fined; faced charges three times in Oklahoma and Florida of cashing bogus checks and pleaded guilty in one case; and, according to his ex-wife, ran up a $35,000 credit card bill before they divorced after just a few months of marriage.

Peterson should be criminally investigated, but so far only faces a hefty fine from the state Fair Political Practices Commission. As Robin Lipetzky, Contra Costa’s chief public defender, eloquently noted in a recent commentary, Peterson regularly prosecutes poor people on public assistance for less serious crimes.